Calypso's Cafe

What better way to spend an anniversary than at an aquarium? Thanks to a very generous mother-in-law and a fantastic Mother's Day gift, Matt and I used our annual passes to go visit the sharks, otters, and penguins. We also decided to get lunch at the in-house cafe. I was disappointed that they didn't take the potentially offensive opportunity to offer sea food of any kind :)

The Atmosphere 3/5

The cafe had a sort of nautical convenience store feel to it. There was nothing too flashy but the school of fake oceanic life strung from the ceiling did provide enough sub-par distraction to get us through almost the entire wait for our food. Almost.

The Service 5/5

I was actually pleasantly surprised and impressed with the service. Most restaurants of this caliber are run by high schoolers and college drop-outs who make it obvious that they are miserable being there. We were helped by a rather pleasant and helpful man who greeted us kindly. As he and his coworker prepared our food, they talked and laughed back and forth and appeared to genuinely enjoy what they were doing.

The Food 2/5

This smorgasbord of culinary brilliance kindly unburdened us of $15. On the left, we have Matt's selection: the Hot Italian. It consisted of spicy sausage, pepperoni, black olives, mozzarella, and roasted red peppers. He opted to get it in a combo meal, so he was also treated to a handful of greasy potato chips and an 8 oz cup of Sprite. In his words, the sandwich was having an identity crisis and, with each bite, would change its mind on whether it was an Italian sandwich or a Mediterranean one. Basically, too many flavors between two slices of Wonder Bread.

The sandwich on the right was the Pesto Chicken. It claimed to be made up of mozzarella, chicken breast and roasted red peppers with a pesto spread. I suppose technically the pre-formed meat patty could have once been the breast of a chicken, but the journey from cluck-cluck to Sysco's frozen meat selection was not a kind one. It was dry, tasteless and desperately needed the pesto to give it some life. This brings me to the most disappointing part of the meal: the pesto. If I had to guess, the recipe is 1 part canned pesto to 4 parts mustard. Personally, I'm of the opinion that mustard is a punishment sent from heaven for all the cruelty in the world. To add insult to injury, the sandwich came with pickles on the side.

Conclusion

In the end, the Calypso's Cafe did not disappoint because I didn't have terribly high expectations. We enjoyed our time together and left feeling like our hunger was satisfied. (You better believe I ate the $7 sandwich! Money doesn't grow on trees after all...) Had we decided to go with other items from the menu, their surprisingly low prices would've offset the disappointment I had from the meal. I suppose it was my own fault for going with the most expensive sandwich they had to offer.

I couldn't shake the feeling one might get when they compare Lagoon to Disneyland. One is fun and has good intentions, the other is heaven on Earth. I have not yet written off Calypso's however, because in about 6 months, the new, bigger, better aquarium will be open and will hopefully have more high-quality dining options available.